Just A Little Getaway. . .

I’m a week behind on the blog.  I know that doesn’t mean anything to anyone, but me.  This neurotic compulsion I have to document our life and the things we do and experiences we have.  It’s not that I just have to document them–I have to document them in order.  Certainly, there is a diagnosis for that?  Sequential disorder?  Consecutive obsessed?  Who knows.

I’ve yet to blog about our little getaway last weekend.  Our first ever monumental trip to Ikea.  (How’s that for dramatics?)  I’ll get to that, but first. . .

After we departed from the most awesome family I was able to photograph on Saturday morning we had made plans to eat at a local well known diner.  I was so excited to visit this little diner–but not just for the food.  (Though the food was awesome.)

I’m not sure how long ago or when I began noticing it–but every now and again a name would pop up in the comments to this blog.  His comments were so kind and encouraging and uplifting–I felt like he was family.  And then again I noticed his name popping up on my Photography Facebook page.  He encouraged and talked of beauty and composition and somehow he seemed to ‘get’ the things that I was trying to accomplish with my ‘art’.  That guy who I didn’t really know (though he knows my FIL) owns this most awesome diner with the most INCREDIBLE pie.

As soon as we walked in I was greeted with the most kind and sincere hug.  It was as if he had known our family for years and years and years.  We felt so honored when Doug grabbed a cup of coffee and pulled up a chair and sat at our table while we were there.  We learned a bit about him and this classic restaurant that has been passed down through his family for years.  We certainly felt like we were given the royal treatment. . .

I can’t help but say it again. . . I am just so thankful for the way this space has expanded my world.  Meeting people like this, faithful readers and constant encourages, is more than enough evidence for me to understand how much good there really is in the world.

After waking the kids up super early to go to the shoot, and then taking them to a diner where we sat just a little too long, and then explaining we were going to a really big home store–it’s safe to say that they were less than enthusiastic.  Okay, they were whiny. 

It didn’t help the situation when I told them we had to stop at the mall because I had forgotten appropriate shoes. They walked slooooooly into the mall behind us with feet dragging, arms drooping, and mouths turned down.  The only thing they really wanted to do was this. . .

What they didn’t know is that my sister had planned a surprise.  As we headed toward the “shoe store” we detoured to our real destination.

Talk about a quick shift in mood.  It was their very first trip to Build-a-Bear and I’m not sure when I have seen their smiles so wide.  We stood back and watched as my sister completely made their day by giving them this experience that they had only ever seen on TV commercials.

The icing on the cake was Meadow insisting that she carry her own bear–through the entire mall.

Needless to say, we had some happy kiddos on the way to Ikea.

Ahh, Ikea. 

Just as we arrived to the store an email dinged into my phone. I found that a reader had written this comment on the blog:

  Ikea: don’t go on the weekend. If you go on the weekend, go on a Sunday
night…The crowds there are horrible and it is best to go during an
off time. Make sure the kids are fed and have lots of snacks, although
they do have a great food area, so you could also plan to eat there.
Give yourself a few hours, as that is how long it will take! Have
fun…it is a great store!!!

I laughed as I realized we had already started the trip off wrong.  It was the middle of the afternoon–on Saturday.  The kids were already tired.  All they wanted to do is swim.  All the snacks were gone or boring.

But we made it. . .

. . . and my reader was correct–Saturday afternoon was pure insanity.  I am not a lover of crowds and it was so crowded and all the stuff and the people and the choices and the variety–oh my.  Not to mention Meadows desire to walk and Charlie and Chanelle’s need to sit on each couch and bed.  Just as I suspected–I was overwhelmed. 

No decisions were going to be made that day.  So, we let the kids do their thing. . .

. . . and found our way to the exit.

Yep, see Charlie?  That’s about how I felt.

We will likely go back–sans kids, soon.  I’m all about 2nd chances.